Illuminated dial



April 17, 1956 w. w. HOYLE ILLUMINATED DIAL.

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed. April 19, 1954 INVENTOR. WALTERW HUYLE A TTUHNE 1 April 17, 1956 w. w. HOYLE ILLUMINATED DIAL.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 19, 1954 INVEN TOR WA LTERW HuY LE A YTUR'NEY United States Patent '0 ILLUMINATED DIAL Walter W. Hoyle, Syracuse, N. Y., assignor, by mesne assignments, to The Murray Corporation of America, Detroit, Mich., a'corporation of Delaware Application April 19, 1954, Serial No. 424,131

7.Claims. 01. 116-124) the various electrical circuits, which timer is manually settable to vary one or more of the time periods. Such timers have a cam shaft adapted to carry on the end thereof, a knob and dial. One form of such timing mechanism is shown in Patent No. 2,313,064. Manual setting of such a timer is generally restricted to advancing the timer to shorten or eliminate portions of a cycle since retrograde movement would likely be detrimental to the apparatus.

In controls for such timers, particularly where an indicating dial is employed, it is important that the dial be accurately angular disposed with reference to the shaft. Such timer shafts advance in small increments of a degree or two, which increments represent a period of time, so that the angular positioning of the dial upon the timer shaft within a limited tolerance is a necessity. It is also desirable that the dial be illuminated for convenience of the operator, since many appliances of the type referred to are located in poorly lighted locations.

The present invention is directed to a manual knob and dial which is adapted to be mounted upon a timer shaft or the like, and in which the dial isilluminated both as respects the indicia circumferentially.disposed around the dial, and a light beam marker fol-"setting the dial. The invention .is further directedto. a dial which may be readily set angularly with respect to a timer shaft so that the dial indicia with reference to the marker may be precisely calibrated in respect to the sequence cams of the timer. i

The above and other novel features of the invention will appear more fully hereinafter from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is expressly understood that the drawings are employed for purposes of illustration only and are not designed as a definition of the I, limits of the invention, reference being had for this purpose to the appended claims.

In the drawings, wherein like reference characters indicate like parts:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the top portion of a washing machine cabinet showing the general location of the dial;

Figure 2 is a vertical section taken through one form of the dial construction;

Figure 3 is a plan view of the dial with the knob re moved, taken substantially from the section line 3-3 of Figure 2;

. Figure 4 is a sectional view of :1 modified form of the invention; I v I 'Figure 5 is a transverse sectional view taken substan- "tially on the line 5-5 of Figure 4; and

Figure 6 is a fragmentary enlarged sectional view of Figure 2.

Referring to Figures 1 to 3, there is shown a trim panel 10 mounted on a washer cabinet 12, the trim panel being mounted upon an inclined cabinet panel 14, the cabinet panel being located to the rear of the top deck. The cabinet panel 14 slopes upwardly to the rear and embraces a rear wall 16 of'the cabinet.

' The cabinet panel 14 supports a timer assembly 18 having a cam shaft 20 projecting through the cabinet panel 14 and through the trim panel 10. The timer is mounted by means of one or more screws such as 22, threaded into the end wall 24 of the timer 18. Such screws have spacer collars 26 and 28 between which are clamped a reflector cup 30 and a light supporting bracket 32, which latter extends to the rear wall 16 of the cabinet. The bracket 32 has a horizontal portion 34 to the rear thereof, and an inclined portion 36 forward thereof, extending substantially parallel with, but in spaced relation to the cabinet panel 14. The horizontal portion of the bracket 32 is provided with a lamp socket supporting finger 38, and forward thereof is an aperture 40 to provide clearance for a miniature lamp 42 mounted in the socket 44. The reflecting cup 30 has a formed portion 46 at its upper rearward end to receive the miniature'lamp 42 and such portion lies within the aperture 40 of the bracket 32.

The cabinet panel 14 is provided with an elongated aperture 48 through which the shaft 20 projects, such aperture being .of suflicient size to receive the hub portion 50 of'the dial 52, such aperture extending rearward a suflicient distance to permit the miniature lamp 42 to partially project therethrough.

The dial 52 with its hub 50 has an internal shoulder 54 adapted to be clamped between the knob 56 and a plate .58. The knob and plate are drawn axially toward one another into engagement with the shoulder 54 by two or more paraxially extending screws 60. The knob 56 is providedwith a radial set screw 62 adapted to engage a flat 64 on the shaft 20.

It will be seen that the structure thus described permits the rigid setting of the knob 56 upon the shaft 20, while the dial 52 may be angnlarly disposed to any selected position with respect'to the knob 56, by loosening the screws 60 sufficiently to permit the dial to be rotated with respect to the knob 56. When the dial 52 is set with respect to the knob 56, the screws 60 are drawn tight, so that the dial is securely fastened to the knob.

The dial and hub 50 are formed of an acrylic plastic or other similar transparent material, and the lower end of the hub is disposed substantially on a plane common to the center of the light source within the miniature lamp 42. The lower end of the hub is bevelled at a 45 angle as at 66, so that light from the lamp 42 will bereflected by the bevelled surface in a direction generally lengthwise of the axis of the hub, the light entering the hub and traveling toward the plane of the dial 52. The dial and hub are integral, and the dial adjacent its inner edge is provided with a bevelled circular surface 68, which is in cylindrical alignment with the bevelled surface 66 so that light traveling lengthwise through the hub will be reflected by the surface 68 radially outward through the dial 52. The outer rim of the dial is enclosed within an annular channel section band 70 of metal or the like, which terminates the flow of light traveling radially in the dial. Inwardly of the outer edgeof the dial, there is provided on the under surface an annular recess 72 having an annular bevelled surface 74. Such bevelled surface is adapted to receive light traveling radially outward within the dial and reflect the same upwardly for the purpose of il- 3 Patented Apr. 17, 1956 3 luminating the circumferentially disposed indicia 76 applied to the top surface of the dial.

The annular groove 72 has an offset 78 with an annular surface St) arranged parallel with the plane of the dial 52, which lies under a narrow radially extending slit 82 in the trim panel 10, such slit 82 lying immediately over the light source within the lamp 42.

It will be seen that light rays emanating from the lamp 42 in a direction radially toward the shaft 20 will be reflected by the annular bevelled surface 66 so as to be transmitted longitudinally through the hub to the dial bevel 68, whence such raysv are reflected radially to the bevelled surface '74, whereupon such rays are reflected upwardly toward the dial surface and the indicia referred to. At the same time, light rays emanating from the lamp 42 project through the slit 82 in the trim panel and travel upwardly through the dial so as to provide an illuminated radial index line upon the dial, which line will be in substantial alignment with the physical marker 84- radially disposed upon the trim panel immediately beyond the circumference of the dial 52. The light reflecting cup 39 provides a shield to prevent the escape of light rays from the lamp 42, and the dial itself on the back face thereof may be provided with an annular disk 86 adapted to prevent illumination of the dial except by light rays entering the hub and dial in the manner here and above referred to.

The arrangement is such that the light travels through the transparent material and spreads around the dial, providing a substantially uniform illumination of the indicia thereof. At the same time, a bright marking line is readily apparent for setting the dial.

In Figures 4 and 5, a modified form of the knob and dial mount are shown. The dial 52 with its hub 59 and its internal annular shoulder 54 are clamped between an annular plate S t and a knob supporting bushing 92, Such bushing has an aperture 94 to receive the shaft and has a radial set screw 96 adapted to engage the flat 64 of the shaft. The bushing is slotted transversely across its outer end as at 98, and screws 160 extend from the base of such slot parallel with the shaft 20 and are threaded into the plate 90. The bushing at its outer end has a shoulder portion 102 which is threaded as at 11494 to receive a knob 196.

It will be seen that upon removing the knob 106 the heads of the screws 1% are exposed, so that the plate 96 may be loosened with respect to the bushing 92 to permit angular setting of the dial 52 with respect to the bushing. Once the dial is properly indexed the screws 66 are drawn tight, and thereafter the knob threaded in place. It will be appreciated that since timers of the type referred to may be manually advanced to vary a wash cycle or portions thereof, but may not be rotated backward without danger of injuring the timer cams and followers, and likely damage to the wash mechanism, it is desirable to prevent manual rotation of the timer shaft in the reverse direction. For this purpose, the thread between the knob and the bushing is so chosen as to permit rotation of the dial in the advanced direction, when the knob is turned in that direction, but when the knob is turned in the reverse direction, the knob merely unthrcads from the bushing so that the shaft cannot be turned in the wrong direction.

.lt will be seen from the foregoing that there is provided a dial of transparent material which is illuminated uniformly from within under its dial surface, and that there is provided an illuminated index line for such dial. in addition it will be seen that the dial is readily settable angularly with respect to the shaft so that the indications of the dial may exactly correspond to the cams within the timer.

While the dial construction has been shown as applied to an automatic washing machine, it will be readily understood that it may have application to any apparatus requiring a similar control and accuracy in the dial setting with respect to the timer mechanism.

Although a single embodiment of the invention with a modification thereof has been illustrated and described, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. As various changes in the construction and arrangement may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, as Will be apparent to those skilled in the art, reference will be had to the appended claims for a definition of the limits of the invention.

What is claimed is:

l. In an illuminated appliance control dial, a support, a control shaft rotatably mounted in respect to said support, a dial mounted on said shaft for rotation therewith, composed of transparent, light-transmitting material having an annular disc-like portion and an integral, annular collar centrally disposed, a light source located beneath the dial and radially disposed with respect to said collar, said collar having a conical reflecting surface adapted to receive light from said source and reflect such light lengthwise of the collar, the other end of said collar and the inner edge of the dial having in common, a conical light-reflecting surface for reflecting light traveling lengthwise of said collar radially into said dial, and said dial having an annular groove in the under surface adjacent the outer periphery thereof, said groove having an inclined conical surface adapted to receive light traveling radially outward in the dial and reflect such light upward to the surface thereof, indicia on the dial illuminated by said last-named reflected light, a light mask located between said light source and dial, having an aperture therein in alignment with rays emanating from said lamp in a direction generally normal to the plane of said dial, said aperture being effective to provide alight spot index on said dial.

2. In an illuminated appliance control dial, a support, a control shaft rotatably mounted in respect to said support, a dial mounted on said shaft for rotation therewith, composed of transparent, light-transmitting material having an annular disc-like portion and an integral, annular collar centrally disposed, a light source located beneath the dial and radially disposed with respect to said collar, said collar having a conical reflecting surface adapted to receive light from said source and reflect such light lengthwise of the collar, the other end of said collar and the inner edge of the dial having in common, a conical light-reflecting surface for reflecting light traveling lengthwise of said collar radially outward into said dial, and said dial having an annular groove in the under surface thereof adjacent the outer periphery thereof, said groove having an inclined conical surface adapted to receive light traveling radially outward in the dial and reflect such light upward to the surface thereof, and indicia on the dial illuminated by said last-named reflected light.

3. In an illuminated appliance control dial, a support, a control shaft rotatably mounted in respect to said support, a dial mounted on said shaft for rotation therewith composed of transparent, light-transmitting material having an annular disc-like portion and an integral annular collar, said collar having conical reflective surfaces at its opposite ends, one of said surfaces being adapted to receive light rays directed radially toward said collar and reflect light lengthwise of and Within the collar, and the other lying in the plane of the dial and adapted to reflect light rays traveling lengthwise of the collar radially outward into the dial.

4. In an illuminated appliance control dial, a support, a control shaft rotatably mounted in respect to said support, a dial mounted on said shaft for rotation therewith composed of transparent, light-transmitting material having an annular disc-like portion and an integral annular collar, said collar having conical reflective surfaces at its opposite ends, one of said surfaces being adapted to receive light rays directed radially toward said collar and reflect light lengthwise of and within the collar, the other lying in the plane of the dial and adapted to reflect light rays traveling lengthwise of the collar radially outward into the dial, and said dial having a conical reflective surface located between the opposite faces thereof and adjacent the periphery thereof for reflecting light rays traveling radially outward within the dial to a surface thereof.

5. In an illuminated appliance control dial, a support, a control shaft rotatably mounted in respect to said support, a dial mounted on said shaft for rotation therewith composed of transparent, light-transmitting material having an annular disc-like portion and an integral annular collar, said collar having conical reflective surfaces at its opposite ends, one of said surfaces being adapted to receive light rays directed radially toward said collar and reflect light lengthwise of and within the collar, the other lying in the plane of the dial and adapted to reflect light rays traveling lengthwise of the collar radially outward into the dial, said dial having an annular groove in the under surface adjacent the outer periphery thereof, and said groove having an inclined conical surface adapted to receive light traveling radially outward in the dial and reflect such light upward to the surface thereof.

6. In an illuminated appliance control dial, a support, a control shaft rotatably mounted in 'respect to said support, a dial mounted on said shaft for rotation therewith composed of transparent, light-transmitting material having an annular disc-like portion and an integral annular collar, said collar having conical reflective surfaces at its opposite ends, one of said surfaces being adapted to receive light rays directed radially toward said collar and reflect light lengthwise of and within the collar, the other lying in the plane of the dial and adapted to reflect light rays traveling lengthwise of the collar radially outward into the dial, said dial having a conical reflective surface located between the opposite faces thereof and adjacent the periphery thereof for reflecting light rays traveling radially outward within the dial to a surface thereof, and indicia on the dial illuminated by said last-named reflected light.

7. In an illuminated appliance control dial, a support, a control shaft rotatably mounted in respect to said support, a dial mounted on said shaft for rotation therewith composed of transparent, light-transmitting material having an annular disc-like portion and an integral annular collar, said collar having conical reflective surfaces at its opposite ends, one of said surfaces being adapted to receive light rays directed radially toward said collar and reflect light lengthwise of and within the collar, the other lying in the plane of the dial and adapted to reflect light rays traveling lengthwise of the collar radially outward into the dial, said dial having an annular region through which light rays pass in a direction generally normal to the dial surface, a light source having fixed relation to said support and with its light source disposed substantially radially of said first-named conical surface and normal to said dial surface, and a mask between said source and dial having a small aperture in alignment with said source and region to provide an indicia light source.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,609,210 Scantlebury July 23, 1935 2,334,479 Creager Nov. 16, 1943 2,339,904 Almquist Jan. 25, 1944 

